Monday, 14 July 2014

I have this thing for embroidery hoops. I rarely embroider, I just have a thing for the hoops themselves. I have a narrow wall in my studio beside my sewing table that is perfect for a cluster of hoops, so I'm working on filling that with hoopy goodness.

Since every artist needs a colour wheel handy, I decided to make a fabric colour wheel for my wall., and since you can never have too many freebies, here are the directions in case you want to make your own.

Materials:

Six, 10in x 10in squares of quilting cotton in the following bright colours - red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. You can use solids or prints.

Neutral sewing thread (I used grey).

Sewing thread to match each fabric (This is for sewing on buttons, you could also use embroidery thread).

72 buttons of various sizes - 12 buttons in each colour. If you don't have this many buttons in your buttons stash you could definitely get away with fewer.

Cut an equilateral (60 degree) triangle with a side measurement of 9.5 inches for your template out of paper or cardboard.

Cut a triangle from each colour fabric.

Using a 1/4 inch seam and your neutral thread, machine stitch each triangle in colour order in sections of three pieces to make two half hexagons.

Stitch red to orange and orange to yellow; then green to blue and blue to purple.

Sew the two half hexagons together.

Press well and then place the hexagon into your embroidery hoop, pulling it tight. Be sure to place the screw at the top. On the back, tack around the diameter of the hoop about 1/2 inch in from the edge to gather up the excess fabric in the back.

Turn over and lay out your buttons on the front in one colour grouping at at time and hand sew them in place.

Your custom colour wheel is now ready to hang. Or hold up to the sunshine if you want to see translucent prettiness.

Sunday, 13 July 2014

The girls asked me to write a blog post talking about modern
quilting. “Oh sure,” I said. “Easy peasy.” Yeah, it should be easy, since it’s
what I live and breathe and immerse myself in, day in and day out. I know what
it looks like, I know what it feels like, I know I love it. But man, it’s a
really hard concept to define. Someone please hand me some chocolate.

So I started to research the topic. I read the official
definitions of the Modern Quilt Guild, I read up on the history of it. I read
about whether we’re modern quilters or contemporary quilters or just quilters.
And at some point my eyes may have started to bleed and I begged for the
chocolate (I do that often, the chocolate bit, not the eye bleeding bit) and
then I stepped away from the computer screen.

And then it hit me. Why not just tell you what we consider
to be modern quilting over here at Make Modern? Obviously we all feel a
connection to the modern quilting movement, or we wouldn’t have whacked Modern
in the title of our new magazine. We all identify as modern quilters, even
though not everything we do is wonky or full of white space or even all that
radical.

For us, modern quilting is about a mindset. We’re all
significantly younger than the average quilter, though modern quilting isn’t
about age. All three of us are women, though it’s definitely not about gender. We
all feel a deep need to create that comes from somewhere we can’t necessarily
explain, especially in a world full of store-bought, instant gratification. And
now we’re getting somewhere. For us, modern quilting is simply the way we
choose to express our creativity.

Many things helped to bring about the modern quilting
movement. It’s not all about being dissatisfied with what was offered before,
but it is about discovering something that resonates with us more.

Personal story: I began quilting almost 20 years ago (I’m
the old one around here), and while I made a few quilts in the mid-nineties and
into the early 2000s, I was drastically younger than the typical quilter. I
appreciated many traditional quilts, but didn’t necessarily want to make them.
I never took a formal class (though I frequently called on the expertise of a
good friend in the days before the internet). I used a lot of solids before it
became the done thing. And then I became frustrated by the lack of interesting
fabrics and moved onto other crafts than seemed fresher and newer. Fast forward
to 2010 and I’d occasionally pick up quilting magazines and see some new trends
sneaking through. Like fresh, amazing fabrics (oh when will they reprint Denyse
Schmidt’s Katie Jump Rope!?!). I turned to the internet for more inspiration
and discovered a whole new quilting world had developed that was amazing and
bright and fresh while I was off having photos developed and playing with
papers. And I was hooked, again. Sucked back into a happy place of fabric and
colour and cutting fabric into tiny pieces and stitching them back together
again.

But – and this is a big but – thanks to the internet and
blogs and social media and digital cameras, I discovered that I wasn’t alone in
my love of quilting. There were plenty of others who’d discovered the creative
benefits of quilting, who felt the sense of satisfaction that only comes with
handmade. And we shared our love and our inspiration and our knowledge. The use
of the internet and technology was critical in the development of the modern
quilting movement. I’m not saying this doesn’t happen in all quilting circles,
but it’d be fair to say it happens more in the modern quiltosphere.

In conjunction with this, fabric companies started to expand
their focus and a lot more fresh, modern quilting cottons hit our shelves.
Designers like Amy Butler and Denyse Schmidt brought a new demographic to the
quilting world. Fabric became exciting again.

And of course, another critical aspect of modern quilting is
the design – which is obviously different to what’s been popular in recent
years. We’re not saying it’s all new and different because of course it’s not.
The Amish nailed the use of solid fabrics way before Kona made colour cards.
And the quilters of Gees Bend mastered improv decades before we did. Many
antique quilts look surprisingly like modern quilts... or is it the other way
around?

But one thing modern quilters do is push the boundaries. We
explore settings, we choose to quilt our own quilts, we make quilts to be used
(seriously, is there anything better than seeing a quilt you made wrapped
around a kid you made?), we play with colour and negative space and we do wonky
and improv and imperfect. And then we do more traditional stuff with fresher
fabrics, or English paper piecing or appliqué. And we work out which rules to
break and which ones we should keep (like ¼ inch seams).

Modern quilting is not a definition we throw around to
distinguish or isolate ourselves from other quilters. Quite frankly, if you’re
in the practice of patchwork, we love you. Let’s face it, finding others who
understand that you’d rather spend $100 on fabric than shoes is golden. But it
can’t be denied that modern quilting is out there and it’s an aesthetic more
and more quilters identify with. Our job is to foster these quilters, to bring
them together, to celebrate the manufacturers who get us. We are not saying
we’re better than traditional quilters, we’re just saying we’re here, we like
what we like, and we want to see more of it.

And we’re here to represent you, fellow modern quilters. Or
contemporary quilters. Or just quilters – whatever you want to be called. We
know that you, like us, can’t get enough of this amazing, creative,
so-much-more-than-a-bed-cover hobby, and we love you for that.

Saturday, 5 July 2014

So
this is our first Make Modern blog post - and oh the pressure! An
inaugural post! It must be special and extraordinary and amazing and
keep the readers coming back! Or perhaps we shall simply go for a blog
post that tells you what we're doing and why. Yes. Let's go with that.

Make
Modern is new venture of three Aussie quilters. We are passionate about
our craft, and want to connect, inspire and enable fellow quilters who
feel the same way!

So
here we are! With a fabulous magazine on its way (ooh wait til you see
what we have lined up!), and the start of a blog that will be filled
with resources, quilty help and tips, and pictures of cats on quilts
(No, Jane, no.).

We are very excited about this venture and would love to have you
involved! So drop us a line, tell us what you'd like to see in a modern
quilting magazine, or maybe you have a great idea to share with us for a
project or an article! We want to hear it! Quilting! Sewing! Modern!
Yay! Let us all unite in our quilty passion and go Make Modern!

About Make Modern

Make Modern is Australia's modern quilting magazine, written by a team of Australian quilters. We publish a bi-monthly digital magazine with over 100 pages, 10-14 modern quilt patterns sourced from talented pattern designers from Australia and overseas, and 12 feature articles which include stories from the quilt community, interviews with designers and quilt know-how. Sound good? We're digital so no matter where you are in the world, you can subscribe and join in the modern making fun!